Israeli construction in east Jerusalem impedes progress toward Middle East peace along with plans for a future Palestinian capital in the city, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said today.
"All settlement activity is illegal, but inserting settlers into Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem is particularly troubling," Mr Ki-moon told the UN Security Council in New York.
"This leads to tensions and undermines prospects for addressing the final status of Jerusalem."
The UN chief was referring in part to Israeli plans to build new apartments in east Jerusalem, announced during a March 9th visit by US vice president Joe Biden.
Palestinians have linked participation in US-mediated indirect peace talks to the cancellation of the Jerusalem construction plans.
"We must not let negotiations be disrupted by provocations," Mr Ki-moon said.
"There have been too many negative facts on the ground. They need to stop. Negotiations must start without delay".
He said the announcement yesterday of plans to build 20 apartments in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem was "unacceptable."
The US and UN have called on Israel to halt all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel has imposed a partial freeze on building in the West Bank while saying construction in Jerusalem, which prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he doesn't consider a settlement, will continue.
The Security Council discussion of the Middle East was the last for three years in the chamber that has been the scene of more than 6,000 of its meetings since the early 1950s.
The chamber, like the rest of the UN headquarters complex in Manhattan, is undergoing a renovation to bring it up to current safety, environmental and efficiency standards.
Bloomberg